A new study found that people who never or rarely brush their teeth are 70% more likely to suffer heart disease as those who brush twice a day.

However, the overall risk from poor oral hygiene remains quite low, they said.

Experts from University College London analysed data for more than 11,000 people with an average age of 50 taking part in the Scottish Health Survey. They looked at people's brushing habits as well as their lifestyles, such as whether they smoked or took exercise.

People were asked how often they visited their dentist (at least once every six months, every one to two years, or rarely/never) and how often they brushed their teeth (twice a day, once a day or less than once a day). Separate details were collected on people's medical histories, blood pressure, and their family's history of heart disease. Blood samples were also taken to measure markers of inflammation in the blood.

Just over six out of 10 (62%) people visited their dentist every six months, while 71% said they brushed their teeth twice a day.

During eight years of follow-up, there were 555 examples of serious heart problems, mostly caused by heart disease, including heart attacks. Of these, 170 were fatal.

The experts found that people who never or rarely brushed their teeth were 70% more likely to suffer heart disease than those who brushed twice a day. This held true even when factors likely to influence the results - such as obesity and smoking - were taken into account. Poor oral hygiene was also linked to low-grade inflammation in the blood.

Writing online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), author Professor Richard Watt said: "Our results confirmed and further strengthened the suggested association between oral hygiene and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore inflammatory markers were significantly associated with a very simple measure of poor oral health behaviour."